Tibetan exile Janphel Yeshi, 27, is engulfed in flames after he set himself on fire during a protest in New Delhi on March 26, 2012.

Strdel
/ AFP/Getty Images

Originally published on May 23, 2012 9:55 am

Jamphel Yeshi has died. The 27-year-old Tibetan exile, who on on Monday set himself on fire in New Delhi, was the latest in a small but growing number of Tibetans who in the past year have burned themselves in protest of China's rule over their country.

Yeshi, The Associated Press writes, came to a protest over a visit to India by China's president and "ran screaming past other protesters and the media before falling to the ground, his clothing partly disintegrated and nearly his entire body covered in burns." He died today.

This morning, The Wall Street Journal writes that his death "casts a shadow over the visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao, who is in New Delhi to attend the BRICS summit with leaders from Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa. ... A spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry claimed Tuesday that the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists, had encouraged the self-immolation. The exiled Tibetan administration and the Dalai Lama have repeatedly denied backing the practice."